Butternut Squash Risotto

Lenore Pinello of Tequesta's In the Kitchen shares her savory, and timely, recipe for Butternut Squash Risotto.

Butternut Squash Risotto

1 butternut squash, peeled, diced and roasted until tender

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

½ cup minced shallots (2 large)

1½ cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)

½ cup dry white wine

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Peel and seed the squash. Cut the flesh into small dice. Spread a thin layer in a shallow roasting pan. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Roast for ½ hr or until soft and starting to caramelize.

Heat the chicken stock. Leave it on low heat to simmer. In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the shallots on medium-low heat for 2 minutes, until the shallots are translucent but not browned. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir, and simmer until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 30 minutes total. Off the heat, add the roasted squash, Parmesan and cream. Mix well and serve.

A self-described home cook, Lenore Pinello discovered her calling when she retired to Jupiter from a 28-year career in the publishing industry. After being invited to lead a cooking class and pulling recipes from her family cookbook, Mangia Mama, Pinello found her “second career.” Thus, In the Kitchen was born.

In the Kitchen opened in 2007 in the quaint Gallery Square North in Tequesta. Part store, part demonstration kitchen, In the Kitchen is a place where cooking and fun go hand in hand. Leading cooking demonstrations, classes and private events, Pinello welcomes guests into In the Kitchen, more home than retail shop, to learn new cooking techniques, improve skills or just enjoy the company and a great meal. Pinello, along with guest chefs or veteran chef Joseph Scarmuzzi, prepares each dinner.

With a strong Italian heritage, Pinello’s life never strayed far from the kitchen. She is fond of saying her grandmother “never made a bad dinner. She would stick with it until it was perfect.” Never receiving any formal cooking instruction, Pinello attributes her cooking skills to her mother and sister, both proficient chefs in their own right. The cookbook Mangia Mama is filled with the family recipes Pinello grew up on and is at the heart of In the Kitchen.

About In the Kitchen:

In the Kitchen is part demonstration kitchen, part gourmet cooking shop. Fully stocked in high-end chef’s gadgets and tools, unique kitchen gifts, local art and gourmet cooking products, In the Kitchen is North County’s go-to cooking store.

Cooking classes and demonstrations include guest chefs and special events. Dinners include multiple courses with various themes influenced heavily by the seasons. Prices vary, and class themes change as often as the seasons, so check In the Kitchen’s schedule for what’s cooking.